Last for burial footwear



Patented Oct. 27, 1942 UNITED TAS.

LAST FOR BURIAL FOOTWEAR Charles F. Schulte, Columbus, Ohio, assignor to Practical Burial Slipper Company 3 Claims.

This invention relates to a shoe last, and particularly to a last for burial footwear. In the manufacture of burial shoes, certain special requirements arise which depart substantially from normal shoemaking practice. The present in vention contemplates and fulfills these requirements.

Due to natural causes over which the mortician has no control, the shape of the corpses foot is substantially distorted, as compared with the normal foot of a live person. After death, the toes and the forward portion of the foot become drawn down from rigor mortis or other causes, and no entirely satisfactory way has been found to correct this deformation of the foot.

It has been the practice of the mortician to employ shoes made upon a last of normal contour and proportion in preparing a corpse for burial. This procedure is unsatisfactory for many reasons. For example, it is difficult to pull a normal shoe upon the distorted foot of the corpse. In many instances, an oversize shoe must be employed to enable the shoe to be placed upon the foot. It has been found that, regardless of whether an oversized shoe is employed or whether a normal size is used, that the shoe does not properly encase the foot. The abnormal shape of the foot when within the shoe will distort its normal contour lines and present a rough, wrinkled and undignifled appearance.

The invention provides a last upon which the burial shoe may be made, which will have the required form to be readily and easily fitted to the foot. The general pattern and contour of an ordinary last was largely departed from and a skillful construction was created to produce a practical burial shoe. An important departure from common practice was to bend down the usual toe spring. It is customary, in producing lasts for shoes to be fitted to a normal foot, that the plane of the bottom or sole of the forepart presents an angle upwardly which is less than 180 with respect to the plane of the sole of the heel part. In those types of lasts wherein the heel height is comparatively great, this angle is substantially less than 180 with respect to the plane of the sole of the heel part. In those types of lasts wherein the heel height is comparatively great, this angle is substantially less than 180 and in a shoe made on such a last, the difficulty of placing it upon the deformed foot of the corpse is proportionally greater. Such a toe spring will hereinafter be designated as positive toe spring.

The last embodying the present invention possesses what will hereinafter be termed negative 55 OFFICE shoe is substantially concaved for the most part;

is appreciably flattened to present a contour which is quite flat, presenting only a vary shallow convexity. As a result of the flattened profile line extending from the cone to the toe tip, the whole forepart of the last is made more roomy. For example, adjacent the instep plane of the last, the foot space is greatly increased as a result of the raising of the line of the cone which results in a more highly arched upper portion of the instep. The flattening of the upper profile line of the last results in adding foot space at the waist, ball and toe portion of the last. The added space thus derived permits the shoe to be readily drawn onto the downwardly deformed forepart of the foot.

To better present the principles of the invention, a more comprehensive description will now be offered, based upon a specific embodiment thereof and illustrated in the drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a last embodying the invention.

Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional view on line 22,

Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a sectional view on line 3-3, Fig.1. Fig. 4 is a sectional view on line 44, Fig. 1, and Fig. 5 is a sectional view on line 55, Fig. 1. The last illustrated is designated generally by the reference character 6 and is of the articulated type having a hinge l at its mid portion between the heel part 8 and the forepart 9, by means of which its length may be contracted to facilitate its withdrawal from the shoe. The present invention, however, is equally applicable to any type of last, such, for instance, as the one-piece or block type last. The heel part 8 presents a bottom or sole H3 which desirably is very slightly convex downward and lies in a plane designated by the line ll-ll in Fig. l. The back line 12 of the heel is sloped sharply forward. This con struction permits a burial shoe to be made thereon of the type which includes a specially devised heel portion which is divided along the line of the back seam and is provided with lacing means to close the rear portion of the shoe after it has been fitted to the foot. It is possible, however, to dispense with the open backed shoe when it is built upon a last embodying the invention.

The contour of the sides l3 and [4 shown in Fig. 2 presents a very shallow concaved contour approaching a fiat surface. This flattening of the contour of the heel provides for the manufacture of a shoe which has a full easy fit, it not being necessary to provide a close fit for use in preparing the foot for burial. As will appear hereinafter at other portions of the last, the contours have been flattened to provide a shoe having plenty of foot space in the forepart to receive the deformed forepart of the foot and provide a correctly fitted, smooth appearance.

The forepart 9 of the last has a bottom or sole l5 which desirably is substantially flat presenting a slight convexity similar to the sole face [9 of the heel part. The sole I 5 is disposed in a plane designated by the line 16-55, Fig. 1, which embraces upwardly an angle substantially greater than 180 with the line H-li upon the plane of the sole of the heel part. The embraced angle in a normal shoe is invariably substantially less than 180. This change in toe spring represents a feature of broad difierentiation from the normal positive toe spring of a standard last and the negative toe spring which is incorporated in the last of the present invention. No undesirable results follow, however, from the use of a negative toe spring in a burial shoe, since the foot is always dormant and is not required to support any weight. The negative toe spring, as above pointed out, not only successfully performs its function of facilitating the placing of the shoe upon the foot, but also when the shoe is on the foot, its cramped position fails to distort the predetermined form of the shoe upper and causes it to remain smooth and neat in appearance.

Referring to Figs. 3, 4 and 5, it will be observed by one skilled in the shoemaking art, that the contours of the forepart of the last illustrated are flattened substantially, as compared to a normal last. For example, a slight degree of flattening is incorporated at the toe, as shown in Fig. 3. The general curvature of the last contours at this position thereof are not substantially modified as compared to other types of lasts, but the curvature at H and H3 at the sides of the last adjacent the junction of the upper cont-our and the sole are comparatively open to provide a smooth easy fit at this portion of the shoe.

Referring to Fig. 4, it is obvious that the contours at this, the ball portion of the last, have been flattened substantially. For example, the contour at the portion 20 is substantially straight, while in a standard type of last, a concaved contour is found. The curve of the portion 2| is of relatively great radius and extends in a curve of substantially constant radius from the point 22 at the junction of the straight portion 2| around to its junction with the sole l5. This construction provides an open roomy shoe having the necessary space to facilitate drawing it upon the foot with the assurance that it will present a smooth neat appearance.

Referring to Fig. 5, which is a section at the customary generally concaved contours at the portions 23 and 24 are ractically fiat. The cone 25 is also higher than in a'normal last, thus creating a roomier foot space. The enlargement of this space results not only from a higher cone but also from the shallow instep curve 26 between the sole portions I9 and [5, which in turn, creates a greater depth at the bottom portion of the shoe at this section of the last.

The profile line of the sole from the heel extremity to the toe tip not only presents a negative toe spring, but also offers a minimum resistance to the placement of the foot in the shoe, because of its characteristically flat contour having no deep or abrupt curve. The profile curve of the top of the last extending from the top of the cone to the toe tip, as hereinbefore pointed out, is substantially straight as compared with a standard last and presents no deep abrupt curve either concave or convex. This latter construction together with the fiat sole contour fulfills the requirements for ease in pulling a shoe upon the deformed forepart of the foot and insures that the shoe will present a neat and dignified appearance. Heretofore, the mortician has been'obliged to purchase shoes which were made upon lasts wholly unsuited to his special purpose. The practice of the present invention provides a last which is completely adapted to the requirements of the burial shoe manufacturer who may now supply the mortician with a product correctly adjusted to his needs.

Having thus described the invention, what is desired to be secured by Letters Patent, is:

1. A shoe last for burial shoes comprising a forepart, a heel part connected by an arch section having its form characterized by presenting a negative toe spring and a top arch contour extending from the upper limit of the cone of the toe section, which presents contours which are substantially flat as compared to an ordinary last, thus increasing foot space in a shoe built thereon.

2. A shoe last for burial shoes comprising a forepart, a heel part and a connecting arch portion having its form generally characterized by a downwardly extending or negative toe spring, the cone, the upper portion of the instep, waist and ball being characterized by inherently fiat contours presenting a profile contour along their upper extremity, which is flat, thereby providing extra foot space throughout this portion of a shoe made thereon and presenting with the sole of the forepart a substantially wedge-shaped foot space to readily receive a deformed foot and further characterized by presenting cross-sectional areas at the instep, the waist and ball having outline curves which are relatively fiat along their side portions as compared to a conventional last.

3. A shoe last for burial shoes comprising a heel part and a forepart connected by an arch section and in which the plane of the forepart bottom and the plane of the heel part bottom intersect upon a line substantially midway of the said arch section and closely adjacent the bottom face thereof and in which said forepart is sprung downward with respect to said heel part to present a negative toe spring.

CHARLES F. SCHULTE. 

